A former St.Louis police officer was sentenced to four years in prison for the beating of an undercover Black colleague at a protest, according to the Washington Post.
The now-former officer Randy Hays, 34, pleaded guilty to using excessive and unreasonable force stemming from a 2017 incident where he and three of his White colleagues brutally beat and arrested their Black colleague, Luther Hall, who was undercover in a protest, The Washington Post reports.
According to court documents, Hall along with another officer was following a group of protesters who were destroying buildings in response to the acquittal of a white officer who killed a Black man.
When officers ordered Hall to lay on the ground, he was then picked up by one of his colleagues and slammed to the ground, where the Hays and the other officers continued to beat on Hall with their batons.
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Hall sustained herniated disc injuries, a torn rotator cuff, and a gash above his lips that required medical treatment, the Post reported.
In a written statement, Hall shared that he felt helpless that night, referring to days where can’t sleep and recounting nightmares that he had stemming from the account.
“The days I can’t sleep, I lay in bed in the dark and all I hear is the sound of my camera impacting the ground and voices of people yelling commands at me,” Hall said in his statement.
Hall also shared with the court that he was diagnosed” with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder,” adding he takes medication daily due to the incident, KSDK reported.
During the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Randy Hays told the judge that he’s ‘greatly sorry” for his actions toward his former colleague, referring to himself as a “good person” that made a mistake.
“I am a good person, but I made a mistake,” Hays told the judge.
Hays’ sentencing comes as more protests of police brutality and social injustice have been more prevalent in the past year.
Hays, 34, is expected to serve more than four years in prison for his charges, the Post noted.
